... The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming the Pelican 's cold gas to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two known as an ionization front. Most of these bright stars lie off the top of the image, but part of the bright ionization front crosses on the upper right. ... The nebula, also known as IC 5070 , spans about 30 light years and lies about 1800 light years away toward the constellation of Cygnus . ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ...